Gavin Hunter

Name: Gavin Hunter

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Grade: 12th

School: Aurora High School

Hobbies and Interests: Computer gaming, guns, ancient philosophy & literature, Iron Maiden and Nightwish. He is in the debate club.

Appearance: Gavin is rather tall, fractionally over 6'2. He weighs about two hundred and twenty pounds. His build is broad, with thick thighs and shoulders from years of rigorous exercise. His hair is jet black and quite thick, coming down almost below his ears, while a thick fringe covers his forehead. His teeth are in superb condition and extremely straight and his face is full and rounded with plain skin and no freckles. His beard grows very fast, so he shaves twice a day to keep his face completely stubble-free. He wears a pair of thin-rimmed glasses to correct mild short-sightedness.

As far as fashion goes, Gavin is distinctly gothic; very black. He purposefully tries to stand out in a crowd by way of appearance. Whenever possible he wears a rather stylish customized full-length leather jacket that comes down below his knees. He wears this at all times he can get away with it, usually with only a shirt and loose, thin trousers underneath. When he can't wear his jacket, he wears thicker black trousers and either a tracksuit top or a formal overcoat. On the day of the abduction he was wearing his jacket, trainers, black trousers and a pair of fingerless gloves.

There are several scars on Gavin's face. A white vertical line through the hair of his right eyebrow marks a gash from a recoiling rifle sight, and propellant gasses once burned his left cheek severely, leaving a crosshatching of white veins. Neither of these scars are disfiguring, but quite eye-catching nonetheless.

Gavin does his best to maintain high standards of personal hygiene. He washes at least once, often twice every day and uses a basic exercise routine to limber himself up every morning. He never uses any artificial scents beyond shampoo and herbal soaps. He keeps his hair carefully combed and shiny, never letting it become greasy.

Biography: Born March 22nd 1993 in the Royal London Hospital, Gavin was conceived by an older English couple named Sebastian and Juliet Hunter who had two other children that had long since moved out. His parents were both forty-five when Gavin was conceived, and despite some worries about his mothers age, Gavin was delivered healthy and without complication after only a moderately extended period of labour. Gavin lived eight years of his life in his birth-country before his parents moved to America to pursue better job opportunities; his mother being an interior designer and his father a skilled computer engineer. His parents decided they wanted another child after seeing how well their first two had turned out; feeling that despite increasing years they were still well able to raise a third child with the experience they had garnered from his siblings. However, despite their hopes, the Hunters found their newest son to be completely unlike his two older siblings.

Gavin's two siblings were named Charles and Elisha Hunter, who were forty and forty-five at the time of his nineteenth birthday. They had both left home by the time he was born, and neither accompanied him on the move to America. His interactions with them were limited to his very early childhood, and even these were perfunctory at best. Neither of his elder siblings liked him very much, considering him to be an unwanted addition to the family and uncontrollable to boot. After the move, Gavin's contact with them lessened to the occasional overseas visit. Their relationship would improve as Gavin matured, but the distance between them meant they never had much influence in his life.

It was when Gavin began to attend school that the real difficulties began. It wasn't that he was stupid - in fact he excelled academically; demonstrating intellectual development at least a year ahead of most of his classmates.The problem was that he was a victim of troublemakers, not to mention disrespectful of authority. In class he was insular and private, rarely speaking up and having little voluntary interaction with his classmates. He also had a volatile temper that made him a favourite target for bullying, which usually ended in him becoming unresponsive and bitter for long periods afterward. Eventually Gavin's grades began to suffer badly from this interference.

It was after this precipitous drop in his performance that it was decided Gavin's problems were more than those of an insecure child being taken advantage of. A psychologist evaluated Gavin and pronounced him as being on the autistic spectrum, but was unable to give a more precise diagnosis due to his uncooperative attitude. This served to give him access to the disability benefits available in the English educational system, chief among them being a personal assistant and privacy from the distraction of his classmates. He was also held back several months so that he could redo vital work that he had been unable to complete before he had been assigned help.

At first, Gavin responded poorly to behavioural therapy. He initially disliked the idea of having to control his emotions around others and enjoyed lashing out at his tormenters. Being removed from a classroom environment for a while every day did however start to detoxify him from the stress he had been under, resulting in him slowly become more expressive and less insular. Shortly before his parents left England he was given a second psychological evaluation, this time resulting in a more refined diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. It was only after this proper diagnosis that Gavin really recovered from his intellectual slump and began making progress again. As a result of this period, Gavin is somewhat older than the normal senior.

Throughout his early life, Gavin's parents tried many different methods to try and make him behave. While they were at first unaware of his condition, they were intelligent and logical enough to analyze his behaviour and come up with ways to deal with it, at least in the home environment. They understood early on that their son had little impulse control, and instituted a series of restrictions on his behaviour with very clearly defined boundaries and rules. This worked quite well at home, but often broke down in the face of the pressure he endured while at school. Upon discovering his autism, Gavin's parents spent a great deal of time researching the facts of the disorder and consulting with other successful parents of autistic children in order to help their son. This, more than anything else, helped him grow into the person he is today.

The move to American shores was one that Gavin had looked forward to. He had few good memories of his birth country and disliked his school for the tension that still existed between him and several of his classmates. His correct diagnosis meant he also began receiving proper psychiatric assistance in the new elementary school that he was enrolled in once the move was completed. Gavin's academic ability improved rapidly under this supervision and he was able to begin making full use of the talents he had early demonstrated for language and literature.

Gavin's outlook on life began to change as he progressed through elementary school. The special attention he received helped him to gain control of his emotions and interact with his classmates in more beneficial ways, which in turn encouraged him to learn more self control. By the age of eleven his personality had almost reversed from the wild unpredictability that had characterised his early childhood, and been replaced with seriousness and determination. He preferred to talk to adults instead of other children, had only a few close friends among the more intelligent of his classmates and was disinterested in the rest. One of the primary reasons Gavin eventually became so socially competent (at least compared to most sufferers of Asperger's syndrome) was his sincere desire to conquer the issues he faced and the dedication with which he worked to overcome them.

The Hunter family had moved to America for Sebastian to work as a high-level technical consultant for a computer firm in Washington. In doing so they sold their English house and bought a property in Seattle. In the end they decided to purchase an old farmstead. Since most of the surrounding farmland had been bought off piecemeal by various developers to accommodate urban sprawl they were able to purchase the property and the last two acres at a fraction of the original value. The farm was in a serious state of neglect at the time of purchase; several of the outbuildings had tumbled down and the house itself had a leaking roof that had been crudely repaired several times, allowing rot to seep into the walls.

While these qualities were obviously undesirable, Sebastian and Juliet had chosen the property for a reason, chiefly being their experience with external and internal renovation. Sebastian had worked extensively as an electrician before computer technology became enough of a fad to snare his interest, and Juliet had been an interior designer in order to finance her career as an artist. Together and with Gavin's help they stripped out the walls and replaced the wiring and rotted panelling, completely replaced the shoddy roofing and support beams, and finally dug up the poorly concreted floors to add insulation and waterproofing underneath. In later years they would go on to add a westerly conservatory and a southern extension. By doing the renovation almost entirely alone, the family saved thousands of dollars in hired help. While they were redoing the property, the family lived in a rented flat within Seattle itself.

The Hunter family applied for and received American citizenship in 2006. The process went quite smoothly for them; both Juliet and Sebastian had good educations, were well qualified in their fields of expertise, and neither had any criminal record to speak of. As far as it affected Gavin, American citizenship opened several doors that otherwise would've remained closed until his own adulthood. Chief among these was early access to the sport that he came to love so dearly; shooting.

Juliet Hunter had been a highly independent and self-sufficient person before she met his father, these were qualities she was keen to pass onto her son and she did her best to instil in him a firm personal morality and respect for life that reflected her own upbringing. Gavin proved to be quite receptive to her wisdom and the two enjoyed a very close relationship not only as mother and son, but as intellectual equals. His love of books can also be attributed to the library that she kept and encouraged him to read as soon as he was able. Juliet also encouraged him to develop his vocabulary and practice his social skills. Her support gave Gavin a significant leg up in his social development, especially after she extensively studied his condition in order to better help him. Due to the relationship that existed between him and his mother Gavin finds himself both more relaxed in the company of women then with men and more interested in discussing intellectual matters with them.

Juliet had been raised on a farm in the English countryside and had some experience as a gardener. She loved nature and animals. Her primary interest in the farmhouse they had purchased had not been the building itself, but the land that came with it, as it gave her the space needed to sustain both an ornamental garden and a vegetable garden. It also provided land for chickens, guinea fowl and geese in addition to the dogs and cats she already possessed. Although her son never showed much interest in gardening, he did enjoy the company of the animals she kept and was more than happy to assist in caring for them.

Sebastian Hunter's relationship with his son was very different from that of him and his mother. Gavin had inherited most of his Juliet's personality, and as such he tended to have much less in common with his father than with his mother. While never at odds, Sebastian never understood his son the way Juliet did, and this led to him trying far less to influence his development, being content to leave that role to his wife. While Gavin's emotional development was relatively uninfluenced by his father, the two were still friends, and Sebastian enjoyed teaching his son as much about his trade as he desired. While Juliet would've been quite at home in Victorian England, Sebastian was an addict for technology and electronics of all sorts. Before specialising in computers he had repaired sound systems for discotheques and nightclubs, as well as working part-time as an electrician. Gavin was also very interested in computer technology, and it became a hobby of his to take apart discarded CPU towers to salvage usable components for later use. In his teenage years his interests turned more towards software, and he can adequately script in C and C+.

The internet was also something Sebastian introduced his son to. It was a world quite unlike anything Gavin had ever experienced before, and he embraced it with almost religious fervour. Knowledge was something he had always valued, and online he could access nearly unlimited information about any subject he wished with incredible ease. He was twelve when he began using the internet regularly, and by the time he was fifteen he was spending hours every day either communicating with people he'd met online or simply reading up on some subject that interested him at the time. Some things he learned were practical, but most were philosophical. Gavin was particularly intrigued by the Greco-Romani concept of Stoicism and made a study of the writings of Seneca the younger, especially De Vita Beata (On the Happy Life).

Philosophy was not the only subject on the internet that had a profound effect on Gavin's way of life. It was also where he discovered the world of guns. In his late teenage years, Sebastian Hunter had had his heart set on joining the British Armed Forces until he met Juliet, who had eventually managed to persuade him out of this course. His son it seemed had inherited this passion, becoming truly interested in the medium at the age of fourteen. His interest was first aroused by an internet debate on the superiorities of projectile weapons over futuristic counterparts that were the stable of pulp science-fiction. His research into kinetic and ballistic physics drew him first to heavy artillery and emplaced weaponry, then as he became more interested; to rifles, pistols and other small arms. At first his interest in the subject was limited to the theory and science, but as he learned more and more, he began to want practical knowledge as well.

Gavin was naturally unwilling to reveal his newfound passion to his mother, whom he knew would react badly to the news. Instead he talked with his father, and they both approached Juliet with the subject at Gavin's sixteenth birthday. Despite her misgivings, Juliet realised how important this interest had become to her son, and eventually agreed to let him attend shooting classes with his father. His instructors were impressed by his respect for the weapons he used and the care and precautions he took while using them. While many teenagers in his group were chastised or even thrown out for reckless behaviour, Gavin always paid careful attention to safely lessons and was regarded as always maintaining a professional handling attitude towards the weapons he used.

The teenaged Gavin was, as has been noted before, the opposite of his childhood self. The special attention he received in school helped him cultivate self-control and patience, while his parents helped him out at home. In many ways Gavin was very lucky, as his degree of autism is comparatively mild and his intelligence very high. His interest in the concept of stoicism is motivated by its advocating intellectual thought and self-analysis, something Gavin constantly does as a way to monitor his behaviour. While psychological gaps between himself and normal people still exist, Gavin bridges them by substituting his intellect and experience for the intuition that his autism deprives him of.

Academically, Gavin's high school years were productive. Science, history and language are all things he excels at, both because of his intelligence and his eagerness. The rest of his grades are generally above average, but not so much as to distinguish him. He tends to associate with intellectual types, preferring the kind of company where he can express his full intelligence without coming across as snobbish or condescending. He enjoys debate and analysis, often having a unique perspective on many subjects. His deep, authoritative voice gives him a natural speaking presence that lends weight and charisma to his arguments. He is in the school debate team for this very reason. His pronounced English accent helps him to stand out and is something he takes great pride in, to the point that he makes a conscious effort to keep his style of speech uninfluenced by the vast majority of speakers around him that possess American accents.

Gavin lives life one day to the next, rarely paying much attention to the future. His days are spent indulging his interests, from practicing with his weapons to pouring over history books. He is confident that he can handle whatever life throws at him, and his stoicism means very little knocks him off balance for long. He is unbothered by many things that occupy the thoughts of other teenagers and feels he has very little in common with them or neurotypical humanity as a whole. Despite his apparent adjustment to life with normal people, it would be a mistake to call Gavin complacent. He still thinks that his way of doing things is the right way more often than not and his motto is 'always have an edge'. These words are an accurate reflection of his perfectionist tendencies and insecurities; he always wants to have enough information or the right equipment to control a situation without becoming adrift in it.

It would be wrong to say that Gavin is without his personality flaws and phobias. As hinted above, much of his routine and preferences are motivated by a strong desire to never be out of control. He is subconsciously still quite affected by the emotional turmoil he experienced early in his childhood, and is terrified of experiencing or confronting those days again. In his quest for maturity and self-control, Gavin has thus somewhat overcompensated for the emotional excesses of his youth. Nearly all the traits associated with his individualistic lifestyle can in some way be linked back to the deep-seated desire never to show the smallest vulnerability to another person not in his confidence. His attempts to be a good, morally respectful person are no less sincere for these flaws, but their root is perhaps more selfish than most people realise.

Gavin's style of dress has always been formal and often rather eye-catching. He has always preferred thicker and tighter fitting clothing to other styles of dress. While Gavin is not averse to throwing on a casual shirt & trousers for work at home, in public he wears a heavy formal coat and trousers that can stand out among his more casual peers. Shortly after his eighteenth birthday Gavin purchased a custom leather duster lined with sheep's wool and long enough to cover his tall frame down to the knees. He wears this whenever the weather and company permit, and it adds greatly to the aura of confident authority that he likes to cultivate. His stand-out style of dress has gotten him teased by some people, but he takes it in his stride and never gets angry if somebody disagrees with his choice of attire.

Although it might appear to a casual observer that Gavin is in prime condition, this is not entirely the case. He suffers from a below-average immune system and a slow metabolism. His sleep cycle is also highly erratic, and he takes melatonin to regulate it. Good physical and mental discipline keeps him in line with his peers, but his system tends to react badly to sudden changes in routine, and he is often suffers from colds and other mild illnesses. He compensates for these deficiencies with exercise to help fortify his system, mostly incorporated into the time he spends with gun practice.

Despite cultivating an outward attitude of detachment, Gavin is a very emotional person. His veneer of aloof dispassion and the occasional bout of joking sarcasm is something he maintains ostensibly to stand out from the crowd, but in truth is a shield to conceal the fragile aspects of his psyche. Only when he thinks it to be completely safe or feels particularly daring will he drop the masquerade and becomes utterly sincere. While he loses none of his confidence or wit during these occasions, he also gains a passion that is almost domineering, and which can surprise or alienate people who are unprepared for it. His friends however know he can be relied upon to always have an interest in their wellbeing and put himself out for them at his own expense.

Gavin doesn't have many friends in school. Most other teenagers find him subtly off-putting and a little too intense. The few people who can move past this find him to be a very supportive, encouraging person. His character flaws have become less pronounced with maturity, but he still subconsciously pushes away people he feels aren't worth his time or respect. First impressions count for a lot with Gavin, and his opinion of people is sometimes tainted by his inability to forget small, irrelevant errors he might've seen in them months or even years before.

A lot of Gavin's affectations are based on his self-control and the pride he takes in it. He wears formal-style clothing and heavy coats because he enjoys the sense of maturity and confidence they give him. The idea of being helpless in a situation unsettles him deeply as it reminds him of the difficulties he had as a child due to his Asperger's syndrome. By not conforming to the normal teenage image and remaining outside their social circles, Gavin ensures that he is never put in a position where he must bow to peer pressure and surrender his precious control over the situation. When he does make friends he is very loyal to them, viewing each one as a precious investment of his time and intellectual energy that deserve his support if ever they need it. He has a very clear sense of right and wrong, and feels regret instantly if he learns he has inadvertently slighted someone.

Another of the ways Gavin stands out from the crowd is his choice of music. He was raised by parents who were both fond of classical opera, and Gavin grew up with very sophisticated tastes. It wasn't until his late teens that he began experimenting with other genres, and eventually settled on the metal bands Iron Maiden and Nightwish as his favourites. Despite their dramatically different styles, Gavin enjoys them equally. There are a few other bands that he follows, but none so consistently or with such dedication. He finds metal to be a very inspirational form of music, as well as emotional. He often listens to it when he needs extra impetus to complete a task or simply to energise himself if he is feeling a bit low. Gavin finds the pop music other teenagers listen to to be very dull; it just doesn't have the frenetic energy needed to excite or inspire him.

When he isn't in a classroom, Gavin tends to stay to himself. He has no real objection to company, but unless he spots a friend or acquaintance he prefers to engage himself in his private thoughts. Despite staying on the edge of the teenage social world he does enjoy hearing intrigue and gossip, especially if it concerns someone he dislikes. Although he is socially isolated, he often listens in on other people's conversations in the lunch room and occasionally the libraries. This busy-bodying is one facet of Gavin's thirst for knowledge; he becomes bored and disconnected whenever he isn't absorbing or analysing information in one form or another, so it is rare to find him without a book or on a computer when one or the other is available.

Gavin isn't seen very much outside of Aurora. When he was younger he preferred to stay within the confines of his own home, reading and using the computer. As he grew older, he began to favour shooting over most other activities. He aspires to a professional level of marksmanship and often spends hours practicing until he can pull off an action with military precision. A good deal of his social isolation can be directly pinned on the amount of time he is willing to dedicate to the perfection of his chosen craft. Guns are something of a psychological crutch to Gavin; his skill with them helps balance out any other shortcomings he sees within himself. He has always found it very reassuring to know that even if he might fail in some areas of normal teenage life, he will always have a special skill inaccessible to most others his age that he excels at.

Despite his careful handling techniques, Gavin hasn't always come off the best in his interactions with firearms. The first time he used a Mosin-Nagant a combination of an unusually light trigger and the exceptionally powerful recoil of the weapon resulted in a gashed eyebrow. He also learned the hard way about the risks of gun-show reloads when a faulty powder mix in a hand-loaded rifle cartridge resulted in a violent expulsion of excess propellant gasses, leaving his left cheek burnt. Since then, Gavin has always been careful to extensively research any new weapons he comes in possession of in order to understand their handling characteristics as well as possible before ever firing a shot with them. His safety routine is practiced enough to be conducted almost without conscious thought, and he observes the concepts of muzzle and trigger discipline to the letter.

The SOTF program has had a small impact on Gavin's life. Although he has never watched the broadcasts themselves, he saw several news reports on the V4 kidnappings, and did some personal research into the background of the organisation from the internet. His interest faded after V4 ended with the apparent defeat of the program, but he did download and read a copy of Kimberly Nguyen's personal recounting of the events of that version when it was first published.

Overall, Gavin is obviously very intelligent and highly motivated in the fields of his own expertise. In the social dynamic he is quiet and contemplative, but always tries to be polite and friendly to people who approach him, but has little interest in small talk and prefers to have deeper more involved conversations with an intellectual peer. The impression most people would get from him is one of dispassionate confidence, with little hint as to his emotional state. Those closer to him are the ones who know of the depth and complexity of his personality. When he graduates, Gavin plans to spend some time at target shooting competitions, to see if he wants to turn professional at the sport or pursue other options such as writing or computer engineering like his father.

Advantages: Gavin is a very intelligent person with a lot of self-discipline who will rarely be paralyzed by indecision. His dedication to the art of firearms would make him very dangerous with even a low-calibre pistol.

Disadvantages: Gavin has a weak immune system and may catch some form of illness while on the island, limiting his potential. While he could use a gun very effectively, the act of aiming and firing on another human being would be even harder than normal due to his rigid safety discipline. His personality is also a study in fragility. Ripped from the world that he has such fine control over, dangerous and unpredictable aspects of Gavin's psyche may manifest without warning when he is confronted with the harsh realities of the island.

Designated Number: Male student No. 051

---

Designated Weapon: Lead Pipe

Conclusion: Well, it's not a revolver, unfortunately, but I'm keeping my hopes up. What worked for Colonel Mustard will certainly work for Mr. Hunter - as long as he doesn't drop too many clues about his intentions. - Andrew Denning

'The above biography is as written by Ghost of Ravenstar. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Ghost of Ravenstar

Kills: Karen Idel 

Killed By: Collar detonation

Collected Weapons: Lead Pipe (designated weapon, later traded to Sophie McDowell), Arsenal Firearms AF2011-A1 Second Century (found near Xavier Contel's body), Monkey Wrench (traded from Sophie McDowell)

Allies: Cassidy Kant, Grace Faraday, Megan Emerson, Alexander de Gaulle, Sophie McDowell

Enemies:

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Gavin, in chronological order.

The Past:

Pre-Game:
 * It's Traditional to Nap in Gazebos
 * Sleepwalker
 * A Breath of Fresh Air
 * A Tree Grows in Seattle
 * Shinin'

V5:
 * The First Drop
 * Ultimately We Just Want to Be Happy
 * A perfectly unremarkable evening.
 * That's Crate!
 * Red Skies, Red Hearts
 * The Red Shoes
 * Calamity
 * I solemnly swear that I am up to no good
 * Mischief Managed
 * Resisting Against Fate
 * The Only Winning Move

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Gavin Hunter. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''

Gavin Hunter is a bad character. He is a barely coherent and self-indulgent wish fulfilment self-insertion fantasy who dominated every scene he was in- for the worse- and it would be safe to say that the only enjoyment to be found in his threads is from watching other, better writers ridicule and mock him through their characters. Ghost of Ravenstar's narration treats Gavin like he is the offspring of Jesus Christ and the Last Son of Krypton and to make matters worse, constantly hides critical information from the reader for the sake of cheap swerves and often seems completely disconnected from what is actually happening at any given time.

Gavin's part in the escape plot is where other characters started taking him seriously and it really exposed his flaws on a much deeper level than they had been when people were reacting as if he was a joke character. Behind-the-scenes drama notwithstanding, in the escape plot Gavin was responsible for some of the most nonsensical writing and plotting I have read in a long time. The way his participation was framed- especially in his death- really highlighted some fundamental misunderstandings on how what the game was about and why people derive enjoyment from it. Through the escape plot and the intentionally ridiculous and fourth wall breaking death post, Ravenstar revealed that Gavin Hunter was not created to be an interesting character to interact and collaborate with other writers to create an enriching narrative within the systems of the game. Gavin Hunter was created to break the game so that no future versions could happen because- as a newbie who had entered in v5 and had apparently not read enough of previous versions to know that shooting collars makes them explode- Ravenstar decided that the writers on this site were not having fun the right way.

Gavin Hunter is a bad character who was created out of a fundimental misunderstanding of the rules of the site and complete disrespect for everyone who participates in it. He is an incoherent self-indulgent fantasy created for the sole purpose of making the game revolve around him. There's no punchline. Gavin was legitimately one of the worst characters in SotF History and was a massive black mark on the otherwise excellent Version Five. --Kalopsia

Could have been worse. That could be said about a lot of things, a lot of kids, but I really do think it applies best here. Gavin's pompous, arrogant, and cringe-worthy, just as a person alone. And he's, for the most part, aware of that, so I was ready to see him as an intentional act of failure, with the fatal flaw being the character's hubris. It's an act that could be spruced up a bit, a practically ancient character story, but I think Gavin does bring a little bit of modernism to it, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.

I think, I remember, jumping off the ship once he backwashed between being funny and serious. Now, jumping within those two boundaries isn't inherently bad, but Gavin did it in just the wrong way, laughing at major things that either show just how crazy he is or what he's doing and being super serious about little things, like knick-knack making and fedora's. The death itself leaps on this, especially the final post, which really is just a big middle finger to SOTF. So yeah, the worst thing about Gavin is that I put my faith in him, and he stomped on it and called it Nancy. -- Un-Persona